Can C++ be used for hardware-level programming?

SnapCrakllPop (13)
I mean, can I... -Make a program that can run BEFORE Windows loads? -Make that program run checks on the hardware and return the results? Or is that strictly ASM?

firedraco (847)
I'm pretty sure that's ASM...although I could be wrong.

exception (321)
You can write an OS kernel and any device driver in C++ (although you will require some assembler code as well, of course, but it can be encapsulated). Of course, for the former, you don't have the run-time environment... -Make a program that can run BEFORE Windows loads? GRUB is written in C [except the MBR and a tiny loader, and that requires assembler, since you must control the physical layout of the binary file], but you could re-write it to use C++ as well...